Well I just got a Kindle today and I have to say it’s pretty neat. But I’m having some trouble getting PDF files to be legible on it.

I had a few PDF’s that I wanted to read on my kindle so I tried uploading them but the text turned out to be way too small to read. So I downloaded briss which I used to crop the pages. This improved the PDF’s to a certain degree but still the text was miniscule. So I then attempted to convert the PDF’s to PRC files and this worked well but I got weird results like little images of each page appearing every few pages, the cover and first few pages going to the end of the file, random letters spaced incorrectly, random bold text.

I’ve research a lot but I’ve found a million and one methods each calling themselves the superior of the bunch. So my question is what the current most successful method to getting a PDF file to be readable on a kindle? Also, I don’t mind buying software to do this if that’s the best way.

Briss can also chop a page into multiple pages. This is the only way to make the text big enough to read. Landscape helps but I am not sure Kindle can do landscape. You need to zoom and reflow the document to make it really readable. Conversion of PDF to other formats is, as you have noticed, unreliable.

i didn't know about the ability to chop a page into multiple pages that might help. And yes kindle does have a landscape option and it does help, but only so much.

It seems like the hardest documents to convert are technical computer manuals with a lot of diagrams and side notes, unfortunately this is what i tend to read the most.

what do you think is the most reliable conversion method though ?

PDF is an end format. It is very difficult to predict how a conversion will go as the total design is around a fixed page size. Some PDF's may convert ok so you can always try that route but don't be surprised when there are problems. PDF viewers that have zoom work the best but cropping can help and it the best for stubborn documents. Good Luck.

One trick for PDF is when it won't convert well try printing it to PDF. The new PDF may convert better.

It isn't the Kindle, it is that PDF is not a good format for 6" screen ereaders, period. Most PDFs are formatted for a large page size (and is meant to display in page size), which is not readily viewable on a small screen.